Michaela: Hi I'm Michaela. Sammi: Hi I'm Sammi.
Michaela: And today we're talking about recovering from an eating disorder
Michaela: We're gonna be talking about eating disorders today so if
you're finding it hard to cope, check the support in the description.
So an eating disorder is an unhealthy relationship with food but it's diagnosed by a doctor,
can you tell us a bit about how your recovery started?
Sammi: I was going through it for quite a while,
and I just got to a point where I didn't want to hurt myself
anymore the first thing I did was I decided to
talk to my boyfriend about it because I knew he'd be really understanding about
it and I just started talking and explaining what I had been kind of going
through and how I felt and everything that I was scared to share it with him
and scared to talk to anyone about it I think he was kind of surprised but there
was nothing negative from telling him, like all he wanted to do was you know help
and for me to get help, he kind of helped me book in with a therapist one who
specializes in eating disorders and recovery can be different for everyone
so it might be that you reach out yourself for help or it might be more
like my case where someone helped me to get help
Michaela: And what advice would you give for someone that's thinking about opening up?
Sammi: I think it's the most important step to take because it's such a big and scary thing
to be dealing with yourself make sure you speak to someone who you feel comfortable with and who
has your best interests at heart as well and that could be in person or it could
be even on a text or could call someone.
Michaela: And what if you don't feel able to open to the people in your life just yet? What can you do?
Sammi: It could be a good idea to call and talk to a Childline counselor because they're trained to
listen understand and help and then they can get you to that point where you can
speak to someone that you do know.
Michaela: So can you share what helped in your recovery process?
Sammi: one of the first things I did was to keep a food diary at first I
didn't like the idea but really quickly after starting to do it
I noticed it helping a lot and it made me feel proud of myself
quite quickly another thing that is good to do is obviously is talking to a GP
or a therapist it's someone to talk to if you've got what you think might be
like silly questions or silly thoughts that you're having that you know you
feel like no one else would understand and all they're there to do is listen to
that without judgment and help you also what I definitely did is I became really
conscious of what was making me feel negative and negative about myself and
my body for me it was things like models you know bodies that I was trying to
aspire to which wasn't realistic I'd unfollow those people on social
media and I cut down watching certain things on TV and I switched that as well
to following more body positivity social media accounts people that had a mindset
that I wanted to eventually have.
Michaela: And so what about if you're worried about
falling back into old behaviors or bad habits?
Sammi: It's so amazing to be recovering
and getting better but obviously sometimes things are you know up and
down a little bit and if you're worried about slipping back into any old habits
it can really help to reach out to those people who you know you trust or if
you're worried that this one thing might be like a bad habit of yours you can go
to them and be like look I'm thinking this or I'm I'm doing this do you think
that's a worry, because that helps me as well.
Michaela: And what would you say to
other people that are going through what you've been through.
Sammi: I would say firstly
well done for getting to the point where you are recovering and you want to be
recovering it's amazing for me at the beginning I really was like how am I
ever gonna get to that point of not thinking these thoughts and you do and I
at first I really didn't think I would get there but you do so I think knowing that
you know there is an open door and you can go through you know it you won't
always be stuck in this place so day by day things will get better and better
Michaela: And I think it's important to remember that you're not alone in this process
and that there are people out there that can support you whether that be
Childline or trained therapists and it's okay if they're not feeling ready to
talk right now there will be a time where they will get that confidence to
speak to someone and get that support thank you so much for coming in today
and sharing your experiences about your recovery.
Sammi: You're welcome thank you for having me
Michaela: See you next time bye
you